One kilometer underneath the North Yorkshire coast, salt miners and research scientists work side by side at the edge of the biosphere. A young woman finds a new future in the darkness of this extreme environment.
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Underneath the cliffs of North Yorkshire, two very different tribes come face to face everyday. Since the late 80s, when the deepest dark matter research laboratory in the UK was built in the salt mine at Boulby, miners and research scientists have been working side by side in the 1.1 km deep underground network. In the darkness of this extreme environment, a young woman finds a new future.
Info box
Title: Under the North Sea
Length: 18 min
Country of Origin: UK
Completion Year: 2020
Director: Federico Barni, Alberto Allica
Film stills
About the directors
Federico Barni is an Italian-British filmmaker. His films, including Under the North Sea (2020), a cinematic exploration of the deepest salt mine and dark matter laboratory in the UK, and Asha (2021), have been screened at international film festivals such as DocLisboa, Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival, London International Documentary Festival, Glasgow Short Film Festival and LSFF. His moving image work has also been shown at art galleries and institutions including the Cryptic Glasgow, South London Gallery and on Nowness. He has years of experience as an editor of documentary and fashion film. His work and interests have developed alongside his cell biology and anthropology studies at UCL and Imperial College.
Alberto Allica is a Spanish-born, London-based filmmaker who since 2016 has been helping established directors and production companies make films – from documentary, to branded, to narrative – for the likes of the BBC, Channel 4 and Netflix, among others. Federico and Alberto met while studying at the Science Media Production unit at Imperial College.